Dirt Run

[SoCal Chicken Mama]

The bags of bark natural bark mulch I use cost about $7, and I only had to use two to cover about 60 sq. ft of my big run. They are 2 or 3 cu ft. bags. The rest of it (under the coop house) is sand. It has sort of piled itself in the corner where the roost is, and they tend to do most of their pooping when they are roosting. It's been there a couple of months and doesn't stink much. I do put PDZ there if it starts to smell. The stuff I use is finer than what is in the picture above (sometimes it is called pathway bark), The poop falls through to the area below, which is dirt. I had a healthy growth of "chicks mix" grass there before we built the run, but we tore it up in the build to make sure everything was level and no gaps under the coop and run, so the chicks never got to enjoy it. I did make flats of it for them when they were little, and they loved it. Sometime when I have my chicks grazing else where in the yard, i will try grass again.

 

[paintedChix]

This thread is very similar to your other one that is responded on.

You can check Chip Drop. But if you have a small yard & aren't gardening, I'd see if any neighbors want any to share. It's all explained on their website.

You can check with your city, county, landfill - to see if there is a communal area for dropping off & picking up of wood chips/mulch.

If you have neighbors that have trees, you can see about getting leaves from them. Same with garden trimmings. Depending on where you are - many gardeners are prepping for winter, next spring. They may be willing to share.

Shredded paper & cardboard work as litter in the run & coop as well. You may need to (edit to finish sentence) - use 1/4" HWC to contain shred. I haven't had an issue, but know that other BYC members have.

And in addition, you can extend the size of your chicken run. That will allow more room, lowering the smell & flies.